Book-holder



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1;

AQA. AMBLER. BOOK HOLDER.

' No. 520,627. Patented May 29, 1894.

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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

' A. A. AMBLER.

BOOK HOLDER.

No. 520,627. Patented May 29, 1894.

appertains to make and use the same.

i rrr; STATES PATENT @rrrcn.

ARTHUR A. AMBLER, OF ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA.

BOOK-HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 520,627, dated May 29,1894.

Application filed October 9,1893.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR A. AMBLER, a citizen of the United States,residing at St. Paul, in the county of Ramsey and State ofMinnesota,have invented certain new and useful Improvements inBook-Holders; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear,and exact description of theinvention, such as will enable othersskilled in the art to which it My invention relates to bookholders, forsupporting heavy books, such as dictionaries, Bibles, albums, 650.; andhas for its object to provide an improved construction, with a view ofgreater convenience and less cost.

To this end, my, invention consists of the novel devices andcombinations of devices hereinafter fully described and particularlydefined in the claims.

One feature of my improvement is directed to the connections uniting thebook-saddle with a suitable support for the same, the construction beingsuch as not only to permit the book opening and closing movement,butalso to permit the book to be turned upside down edgewise when closed.

Another feature is directed to the clasps of the book-saddle for firmlysecuring said saddle to the lids of the book-cover, and adapting thesame to different sizes of books.

A third feature is directed to a convenient means for securing the legsto the standard of the supporting pedestal.

Other features will appear in the detailed description and claims.

The accompanying drawings illustrate my invention, wherein, like lettersreferring to like parts throughout the several views Figure 1 is a sideelevation of my preferred construction,withsomeparts shownin verticalsection. Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the booksaddle and its supportingarms, shown right side up, in full lines, and shown opened out in dottedlines. Fig. 3 is a view in end elevation, showing the same parts withthe book-saddle and book turned upside down with the book in its closedposition. Fig. 4 is a plan view, showing the combined book-shelf andleg-lock detached. Fig. 5 is a detail or end elevation of the same. Fig.6 is a sectional view, showing one of the saddle-clasps and the meansfor adjusting the clasp-straps. Fig. 7 is a. plan Serial No. 487,561.(No model.)

view of the standard and spider, to which the pedestal legs are secured.Fig. 8 is a detail of the same, in cross section, on the line X X ofFig. 7. Figs. 9 and 10 are respectively a side elevation and an end viewof a book-saddle, and its supporting arms, with a modified form of thepivotal connections for uniting the saddle to the arms.

The pedestal is composed of a series of supporting legs a, hollowstandard 01,, provided with a leg supporting spider a at its lower end,and a combined pedestal book-shelf and le -lock a having screw-threadedengagement with the lower end of the standard and serving to lock thelegs to the prongs of the spider. The legs a are preferably formed ofsheet metal turned up into cylindrical form throughout the greaterportion of their length, and into angular or trough-like form at theirupper end portions, for overlying and engaging with the prongs of thespider a which prongs are of corresponding angular form in crosssection.

The spider-prongs are provided each with a conical projection a engagingwith a corresponding hole of the leg, for centering the same, when beingplaced in position and for preventing any sliding motion of the legs on'the spider. When the legs are thus placed in position on the spider thelock-shelf a is screwed down into its locking position; and a downwardlyextended angular flange (1. on the under side of the shelf, will thenengage with the upper surface of the legs, near the outer edge of thespider-prongs, and the extreme upper ends of the legs will be engaged bythe under surface of the hub portion of the shelf. By this clampingaction of the shelf a on the spider (1 with the legs'a between the shelfand the spider, the legs will be securely held in position; but may bereadily removed by simply raising the shelf. The legs a may have ballfeet a.

In the fixed standard a, telescopes a vertically movable standardsection b,securable in any .desired adjustment to the fixed standard bya set-screw b. The standard section b terminates at its upper end in aswiveled head b to which is secured a pair of spring supporting arms,each composed of two spring sections 19 The arm sections b converge attheir upper ends and terminate in two half sockets 19 one carried oneach section, which are securable together by a clamping screw b Thebook-saddle is composed of suitable back-straps d, and a pair of pivotedclasps securable to the lids of the book cover; each of which clasps iscomposed of a body plate d and three independently adjustableclaspstraps d securable to the margins of the book-cover and adjustablewith respect to the body plate 01', by means of draw-screws d and allyconnected thereto; but it will of course be understood that leather orother flexible material might be substituted in lieu of the metallicback-straps cl. The metallic straps are, however, preferable for thereason, that they give a firmer structure for the saddle, and tend tohold the clasps properly spaced apart, when the book is removed.

The body plates d of the saddle-clasps have formed integral therewith,projecting ball bearings d, which are engaged by the half sockets b onthe arm sections 19 to form ball and socket pivotal connections betweenthe book-saddle and the supporting spring-arms b by which the saddle issustained, with freedom for the book opening and closing movement, andfor turning the book, when closed, upside down, edgewise, into aninverted position, as shown in Fig. 3. The ball bearings 01 are set atan angle to the body-plates d of the clasps, to aflord the properclearance and to hang the saddle from the proper centers, to bring thesame, together with thebook supported thereby, into their desireddifferent positions. In the main views of the drawings, a book E isshown in position on the booksaddle, the book being in its upright andclosed position in Figs. 1, 2, 9 and 10, in full lines, in its invertedposition in full linesin Fig. 3, and in dotted lines in Fig. 10; and inits open up orreading position in dotted lines in Fig. 2.

The half sockets b are held'together by their uniting clamp screw 5under any required friction, on the ball bearings d, for holding thebook-saddle and book in any position, in which it may be set relative tothe supporting arms b WVhen the book is thrown into its open or readingposition, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, the upper and inner edgesof the half sockets b co-operate with the stems of the ball bearings d,and the shoulders of the same at their union with the body-plates of theclasps, to form stops for the clasps, which limit the outward pivotalmovement of the same. These parts are so constructed and arranged, thatthe book saddle and book may be opened up into the horizontal position;but of course, might be constructed to permit the book to be opened upbeyond the horizontal, so as to throw the leaves of the same on adownward and outward dip. As before stated, the opening movement of thebook may be stopped at any point short of the horizontal or otherextreme opening limit; and the saddle and book will be there held by thefriction between the parts of the ball and socket pivotal connectionsuniting the saddle with the supporting arms b In this opening andclpsing movement of the book, the supporting arms b yield or springlaterally, assuming the positions shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2.

Having regard to the edgewise pivotal movement of the book-saddle andbook, it is obvious that with the ball and socket connections described,the saddle and book are capable of complete rotation edgewise in thevertical plane; and in virtue of the friction between the ball andsocket members of the pivotal connections, the saddle and book will beheld at any point in the plane of their rotation. This will of course,not only permit the book to be turned upside down, as shown in Fig. 3;but will permit the book-saddle and book to be set at any desiredinclination lengthwise of the page, for the convenience of the reader.In the rotary movement of the booksaddle and book, the two sections ofeach of the supporting spring arms b will spring, with' respect to eachother, and their clampscrews 11 and the ball-bearings d sufficiently topermit of the said rotation of the booksaddle and book.

The especial construction of the saddleclasps with the body-plates d,and the independently adjustable clasp-straps 01 permit the clasps to befitted to various sizes of bookcovers with a firm grip, without anymutilation of the book cover.

Referring now to the modification shown in Figs. 9 and 10, thebook-saddle might be exactly the same, as that shown in Fig. 2, but isof slightly different form, in the fact that the clasp-strapsf, areadjustable, with respect to the body plates f, by slot and screwengagement, as shown at f The main feature of the modification, however,consists in the substitution of a double pivot, instead of the ball andsocket-bearings, t'or uniting the booksaddle to its supporting arms. Thesupportin g arms h, are each composed of two sections, but instead ofconverging toward their upper ends, as in the principal views, 1nay beparallel with each other. The upper ends of the arm-sections h arehinged or pivoted, as shown at h to a pivot plate 72 which plates k arein turn connected by single pivots h with the body-platesf, of thesaddle clasp. With this construction, it is obvious that the booksaddleand book may rotate on the pivots h in the vertical plane, while theelasps may swing outward with the plates h on the pivots h to open thebook. In other words, the opening and closing movement of thebook-saddle and book, is effected on the piv- IIO ots h, thepivot-plates 71 swinging with the clasps; while the rotary movement ofthe book-saddle and book is made, with respect to the pivot-plates 72.on the pivots h With this construction the book may be thrown into itsopen or closed position; and when closed, the book-saddle and book maybe turned edgewise into an inverted or upside down position, as shown indotted lines in Fig. 10. Also, as in my preferred construction, thebook-holder and book may be given a complete rotation in the verticalplane. This modified construction shown in Figs. 9 and 10, forconnecting the book-saddle with its supporting arms, is not so desirableas the form shown in the other views, for the reason thatthe book-saddleand book cannot be so readily secured in any desired angular position,either in the planes of its opening and closing movement, or in theplane of its rotation. For inverting the book, however, while permittingthe same to be opened and closed, it is equally efiective. This featureof inverting the book-saddle and book is an important one, as it enablesthe book to be protected from dust and dirt, when not in use; and is offurther advantage, in the fact, that it lowers the center of gravityadding greater stability to the stand.

While the bearings shown, for connecting the book-saddle tothesupporting springarms, are completely rotatable-in the verticalplane, and have a pivotal motion in planes cutting the plane of theirvertical rotation, it is obvious that the book might be turned upsidedown when closed, by a half revolution in the verticalwplane, eitherforward or backward. The complete rotation, however is desirable.

The term clasps as herein used, is intended to include and cover anykind of pivoted plates, for the wings of the saddle regardless of themanner in which thesame may be attached to the lids of the book-cover.45

It is obvious, that many of the details of the construction might bechanged, without departing from the spirit of my invention. So far as Iknow, I am the first to provide any kind of a construction,which willpermit the book to be turned upside down edgewise, when in its closedposition.

The swiveled head 21 on the standard section I), permits the supportingspring arms Z2 together with the book saddle and book to be rotated inthe horizontal plane, as may be desired.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates, is as follows:

1. A book-holder, comprising a suitable support, a saddle provided withpivoted clasps securable to the covers of the book, and bear.- ingsuniting the saddle to said support with freedom for the rotation of thesaddle in the vertical plane, whereby, the saddle and the book heldthereby may be turned upside down edgewise, when closed.

2. In a book-holder, the combination with a pair of supportingspring-arms, of a booksaddle provided with pivoted clasps securable tothe covers of the book, and bearings uniting the saddle clasps to saidarms with freedom for the pivotal movement of the clasps, with respectto the saddle, and for rotation of the saddle and the book held thereby,in the vertical plane, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

3. A book holder, comprising a suitable support, a book saddle havingpivoted clasps securable to the covers of the book and bearings unitingthe saddle to said support rotatable in the vertical plane and having apivotal motion in planes cutting the plane of their vertical rotation,substantially as described.

4. In a book-holder, the combination with a suitable support of a booksaddle having pivoted clasps securable to the covers of the book,bearings uniting the saddle to said support rotatable in the verticalplane and having a pivotal motion in planes cutting the plane of theirvertical rotation, and means for securing the saddle and book in anydesired adjustment on said bearings, substantially as described.

5. In a book-holder, the combination with a pair of spring supportingarms, of a book saddle having pivoted clasps securable to the book coverand ball and socket bearings connecting said saddle with said supportingarms, substantially as described.

6. In a book support, the combination with a pair of supporting springarms, of a book saddle having pivoted clasps securable to the bookcover, and ball and socket bearings connecting said saddle with saidarms, the socket members of which bearings are divided and provided withclamping screws, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

7. In a book holder, the-combination with the supporting spring armseach composed of a pair of spring sections terminating in half socketsconnected by clamping screws, of the book saddle with pivoted claspssecurable to the book cover lids and provided with ball bearings engagedby the sockets on said spring arms, whereby the arms will yieldlaterally and the sections in respect to each other, substantially asdescribed.

8. A pedestal, for a book holder, or other article, comprising astandard terminating below in spider prongs, independent legs engagingsaid spider prongs and a clamping block having screw threaded engagementwith said standard and serving to clamp the legs to said spider prongs,substantially as described.

9. A pedestal, for a book holder or other article, comprising a standardterminating below in spider prongs of angular form in cross section,independent legs of trough-like form at their upper ends overlying andembracing said spider prongs, and a clamping block having screw-threadedengagement with said standard and clamping the legs to 11. In abook-holdexythe combination with the pedestal standard a, of thevertically adjustable standard section b, the swiveled head 5 the springsupporting'arlns b fixed to said swiveled head, the book saddle andbearings, uniting said saddle to said arms, rotatable in the verticalplane and having a pivotal movement in planes cutting the plane of theirver- I tical rotation, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

'ARTHUR A. AMBLER. Witnesses:

J. A. PLOPPER, JAs. F. WILLIAMSON.

